Hi,<\/p>\n
How’s it going?<\/p>\n
You know how some things change?<\/p>\n
Sometimes they can be small changes, and sometimes they can be big changes. Small changes might be just buying some new clothes, or something like that.<\/p>\n
That doesn’t take a lot of getting used to.<\/p>\n
Now, something like dying your hair might take a little more getting used to (if you’re going from dark hair to blonde, say, for instance).<\/p>\n
Or buying a new car when all you’ve ever driven were second-hand cars…<\/p>\n
Or going from living in an apartment to buying a new house, now that might be considered a big change, and take a little more getting used to.<\/p>\n
Or getting married, when you’ve always been a confirmed bachelor…<\/p>\n
Or having a baby…<\/p>\n
Or moving to the city from a small town…<\/p>\n
Well, you get the picture.<\/p>\n
Big changes can take a lot of getting used to.<\/p>\n
It’s the same with bipolar disorder.<\/p>\n
For you and your loved one, getting used to the diagnosis may be a little difficult at first, but then you make the adjustment, and it’s not too bad.<\/p>\n
But getting used to living with the disorder might be a little more difficult.<\/p>\n
Getting used to taking medication might not be so difficult (although for some people it is)…<\/p>\n
But the side effects may be a little harder to deal with.<\/p>\n
But after time, even those can be dealt with, especially with the doctor’s help.<\/p>\n
Going to doctor’s appointments may be different at first, but you can get used to that change.<\/p>\n
Just the fact that, once your loved one is diagnosed with bipolar disorder means that changes have to be made in your life is a big deal, and those changes are what I teach about in my courses\/systems. I talk about what changes you have to make and how to deal with them.<\/p>\n
SUPPORTING AN ADULT WITH BIPOLAR DISORDER?
\nVisit:
\nhttp:\/\/www.bipolarsupporter.com\/report11<\/p>\n
SUPPORTING A CHILD\/TEEN WITH BIPOLAR DISORDER?
\nVisit:
\nhttp:\/\/www.bipolarparenting.com<\/p>\n
HAVE BIPOLAR DISORDER?
\nVisit:
\nhttp:\/\/www.survivebipolar.net
\nAnother change your loved one has to make when they have bipolar disorder is to live a healthy lifestyle, but you can help with that by making sure they eat a good diet, exercise, and keep to a regular sleep schedule.<\/p>\n
These are relatively easy changes to make.<\/p>\n
Building a strong support system may seem difficult to do at first, but once it’s in place, and your loved one lets their supporters (especially you) help them, their support system just kind of runs itself, so it’s not such a difficult change in the long run.<\/p>\n
After awhile, the changes that you and your loved one have to make because they have bipolar disorder are not that difficult to live with.<\/p>\n
What started off as big changes are not as big in the long run –<\/p>\n
You get used to them.<\/p>\n
But I’ll tell you what is the most difficult change of all:<\/p>\n
Getting used to a new normal.<\/p>\n
That’s right – a new normal.<\/p>\n
In the beginning, your loved one struggled with their bipolar disorder, and you struggled right along with them.<\/p>\n
Getting everything in order, making all the changes that needed to be made, then getting used to all of them.<\/p>\n
Things definitely weren’t normal for awhile, were they?<\/p>\n
But now you have reached a new normal for the both of you.<\/p>\n
And now you have to get used to it.<\/p>\n
And that may not be as easy as it seemed at first.<\/p>\n
Some things may seem quite new, actually.<\/p>\n
At first, your loved one may have had more episodes, and you had to learn to deal with them.<\/p>\n
You had to learn to deal with their bipolar behavior even between episodes.<\/p>\n
But if they have been doing what they need to do in order to attain and maintain stability, they aren’t having those episodes any more (or at least not often).<\/p>\n
And the two of you should be living a relatively normal life.<\/p>\n
That’s what I mean by getting used to a new normal.<\/p>\n
A new normal loved one (stable) and a new normal life (without an episode around every corner).<\/p>\n
How does it feel to be living with a new normal?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hi,<\/p>\n
How’s it going?<\/p>\n
You know how some things change?<\/p>\n
Sometimes they can be small changes, and sometimes they can be big changes. Small changes might be just buying some new clothes, or something like that.<\/p>\n
That doesn’t take a lot of getting used to.<\/p>\n
Now, something like dying your hair might take a little more getting used to (if you’re going from dark hair to blonde,<\/p>\n